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Gillaspie's younger brother a projected first-rounder

5/16/14: Conor Gillaspie rips a two-run double down the right-field line to extend the White Sox lead to five

By Scott Merkin
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MLB.com |

HOUSTON -- It won't be long before Major League Baseball becomes a Gillaspie family affair.

Conor Gillaspie currently anchors third base for the White Sox and has posted a robust .341 average over 88 at-bats entering Saturday. Casey Gillaspie, who is six years younger than Conor, plays first base at Wichita State. In Jonathan Mayo's latest Mock Draft for MLB.com, the younger Gillaspie is projected to be drafted by the Pirates at 24th overall in the first round of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft beginning on June 5.

"He can hit for average and power from both sides of the plate," Mayo wrote of the younger Gillaspie.

His proud brother knows of Casey's talent, with Casey possessing more pop than Conor. He also is looking forward to spending more time with Casey as part of their baseball craft.

"With college and stuff and school, the college season starting as early as it does, I'm more excited just to get to spend more time with him in the winter if he's on a similar schedule," Conor said. "It has been a few years since I really got to spend time with him.

"I can help him avoid some of the same stuff I had to go through. Just little things like going through the game, or he has the advantage of maybe getting a little bit of a head start on the little things. He's the real deal, he's a good player."

The older Gillaspie entered Saturday with five hits in his last eight at-bats. He has hit safely in 22 of his 24 games played. The sore left hand that sent him to the disabled list from April 22 to May 6 is a thing of the past.

"My hand feels a lot better," Gillaspie said. "So that was obviously like I was kind of battling my hand for a few weeks. I think just the fact that it doesn't hurt, it's a big advantage just going forward not having to deal with it anymore."

Scott Merkin is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Merk's Works, and follow him on Twitter @scottmerkin. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.